The xx praise ‘unifying’ factor of festivals in a ‘scary, scary world’ during Life Is Beautiful performance

The trio brought their 'I See You' tour to Las Vegas last night (September 24)

The xx praised the “unifying” factor of festivals in a “scary, scary world” during their Life Is Beautiful performance last night (September 24).

The London band were the penultimate act to perform on the Downtown Stage at the Las Vegas festival, coming on just before Gorillaz.

Midway through their set, bassist and singer Oliver Sim addressed the crowd, saying: “I think, more than ever, seeing you all together is a beautiful thing. Not to get too serious, but the world is a scary, scary place and to see you all together is beautiful. Festivals like this are a unifying thing.”

During the performance, the group covered their bandmate Jamie Smith’s ‘Loud Places’, on which the producer collaborated with his bandmate Romy Madley Croft. They also aired a dancier rendition of ‘Shelter’, the original version of which appeared on their 2009 self-titled debut album.

Croft and Sim left the stage briefly after ‘Loud Places’, while Smith stayed on to DJ in their absence. When they returned, they closed the set with versions of ‘On Hold’ and ‘Angels’. Before the latter, Croft said: “You’ve been so much fun. We appreciate each and every single one of you for coming tonight. We see you and we love you and we’ll hopefully see you again soon.